Jul 27 2011

Jeff Nelson

To this day, Tech still hears the same question: what happened to Mac Dre? As if Tech N9ne could be responsible for the death of a man that he extended his love to, or the death of anybody for that matter. Tech N9ne often hears the blame for the Bay Area legend’s death, being that Mac Dre was murdered on Kansas City soil. Naturally people point the blame towards the king of Kansas City, but as Tech explains, he had nothing to do with it. Not only that, but Tech honors Mac Dre in each and every one of his performances on tour and still maintains close relationships with Mac Dre’s friends and family.

In this explosive and revealing interview, Tech explains how he took all of the pent up anger resulting from these accusations out on the track “Kill Or Be Killed” from Jay Rock’s debut album Follow Me Home. As usual, Tech doesn’t pull any punches…

I’m going to tell you about my verse because it’s personal. It takes it back to when I was getting death threats on my mobile phone from some guy out in Cali. That’s why I say “Threatening messages and punks got a hold of my voicemail “. It’s like, I’m thinking he got it from a chick or whatever, and it’s like they’re going to get me for Mac Dre when Mac Dre was my homie. I met him once but he was extended family to Yukmouth. Because Mac Dre died in Kansas City, when people say those kind of things, that Tech N9ne had something to do with it, it truly pisses me off. I want to take their head off because they don’t know that I’m an angel, all they know is that I’m the face of KC and this man passed in KC. They don’t know that we were connected and that we talked in the strip club and I told him “Whatever you need just let me know!” This real cool, tall cat, man. Me being in Salt Lake City on Halloween doing a show and Shock G comes to the show–we kixin’ it and the next day I wake up and I get that call saying “Somebody killed Mac Dre.” I call Yuk immediately. I say “Yuk man, is it true?” and he’s like “Yeah, man” and we’re mourning and shit and I said “Did he have kids, Yuk?” and he’s like “Yeah, man he had kids” and I was like “FUCK!” So when somebody says that to me, telling me I killed a boss without asking and all that kind of shit on my message, it fucking pisses me off because when I go to that town in California…I’m looking. That verse is talking to the motherfuckers, like “How dare you?!” You know what I’m saying? It’s kill or be killed motherfucker. I’m not going to be the one getting killed over something stupid–over something a motherfucker think as opposed to something somebody knows. They don’t know that we’re connected and we’re extended family.

I just had to get at a motherfucker in Reno. I was out there in Reno during the day, getting off the bus to get some food from inside, Krizz and I took some tupperware from my bus inside and there was like four white boys with their shirts off and they passed me and they were like “Yo, what’s up Tech?! What’s up with Mac Dre?! Mo fo, what’s up with him!? I mean, what’s up with him!? I mean, you know! You know what I’m talking about!” “Yeah I know what you’re insinuating but it’s not funny.” We kind of had words right there and I had to tell him the whole history of me and Yukmouth and everything else. It’s like “I know what you’re doing.” Krizz was like “Yeah you’re being a dick, you know what you’re doing.” He’s like “Naw, I’m just saying, people saying around here that you asked them to do it.” I said “You ain’t heard that shit, that’s some bullshit somebody made up.” I said “We usually take motherfuckers’ heads off for that shit.”

We’re just talking in the middle of the street! Somewhere we ain’t supposed to be about this shit to a pack of white cats with tattoos and shit. I was like “That’s cool…but that’s my family and I went through the whole spiel of it with him, what I just told you.” And then he’s like “Aw that’s cool, I was just going off what people were saying.” I said “I ain’t heard that in a long time brother.”

And I was like “You’re talking all that shit, you walking around here and you aint even going to my show.” He’s like “I don’t have a ticket!” I’m like “We do a fucking tribute to Mac Dre every night on ‘Bout Ta Bubble’” His homeboy that was cool and apologetic–I was like “What’s your name brother?” He gave me his first and last name–I put them motherfuckers on the list to come to the show, as an angel, somebody that would’ve wanted to take their motherfucking head off for saying that shit about Mac Dre. I put them on the list to come to my show so they could see what we do for Mac Dre every night…and if they came to that show, they seen a damn good one! I’m sure they did. Then they’re like “Thank you, Tech! Thank you so much!” Even the tough one was “Thank you Tech! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

So that “Kill or Be Killed” verse, Jay Rock done pulled it out of me because I heard his verse about “It’s a homicidal life” and “the doctor’s are trying to save you” and this that or the other. It just put me in the mind frame that I wanted to talk about something real–something that irks me: me being a good guy, why these demons keep knocking on my door, playing with me, when I have nothing to do with nothing shady?

So that “Kill or Be Killed” verse is so fucking real. I say “and I do meet and greets, nigga you for real acting!” You know what I’m saying? I say “that’s the easiest way to find somebody! Buy a fucking–” but I aint going to give nobody no ideas, but anyway I’m just saying, we’re out here!

You’re probably thinking like “Damn, why did I ask him this question?” because it’s so personal and it could start so much shit, but I’m a real dude so when you ask me a question, this is what comes out. Especially about a real ass song like “Kill or Be Killed”. That’s something that will provoke people, you know what I’m sizzling? But only assholes that want to fuck with something Godly–I’m going to tell you, Godly things will always be here. I will not die by the hands of another man. Maybe by the hands of another woman? I don’t know! But I will not die by the hands of another man. You listen to my verse on “Kill or Be KIlled”, listen to how real that shit is in my voice man. That motherfucking song…it made Top Dawg call me and say “Tech man…that is the dopest verse I ever heard you spit brother ! I didn’t know you could come like that!” I said “Those are real feelings Top Dawg!” He’s like “Tech man, I love that shit!” That’s big! Top Dawg don’t really talk that much and he called me and said that! When I sent it back to them he’s like “That’s the dopest verse I ever heard you spit!” And they like real shit and you can tell by the tone of my voice in there, that’s some real situation. You gotta listen it to.

Is it important that the people you’re directing this at hear your voice? I know you can’t really control that but is it important to you?

I want them to hear it! I want them to hear how stupid in the head it makes me, how mad it makes me. I don’t want it to go unrecognized that that shit bothers me. I’m a real rapper. What that means is that I’m going to write what I go through. I wish I knew the whole verse. I’d spit it for you but Jay Rock just played it for me the day before yesterday and I said “Wow…I said all that, huh?” And I felt it! You know what I’m saying? I forgot what I said and I’ve been asking Jay Rock to hear it for a long time. He has the track and he played it for me the day before yesterday in my bus, just throwing on songs right before the show. We was chilling and I was like “Please play me that song so I could hear my verse on it also.” He played me that shit and I was like “Whoooo!” You know what I’m saying/ It’s like an attack! It’s not dissing nobody but I’m like, overtime I come to that city I never see these motherfuckers.

“Come talk to me” is what I want to say! Come talk to me brother! Come look me in my eye and tell me I had something to do with that shit and if you still don’t like me then…we can fight! Boom boom boom boom! We’ll get it over with. Don’t bring no guns, don’t bring none of that shit–let’s do it man style. If you beat me you beat me!

It irks me that somebody would try to put that on an angel man. Just because I’m from Kansas City. All my niggas, from J-Diggs and all the real niggas that hung out–these are Mac Dre’s brothers. J-Diggs is one of the closest niggas to him. That’s my nigga! He come to my shows and everything. The owner of Thizz Entertainment comes to my shows when I’m in Cali. The camera person that takes the photos, who’s married to the owner. She comes to all the shows. I treat her like my relative. They love me. Why are these dumbass fans putting me next to that shit, leaving fucking threatening messages on my motherfucking voicemail to this day?! So that verse is talking about how fed up I am about it, like “You stupid-ass motherfucker.”

“Nigga I ain’t dying just because you jealous I’m making relish” or some shit I said like that. It’s just stupidity. There’s one thing: I’m a nice guy, I’m humble–even though I just did a song called “He’s A Mental Giant”, I had to get it out, you know what I’m saying? But I’m a humble guy…but when shit is stupid…stupidity I cannot tolerate. It has to make sense. I always tell females around me “Don’t talk to me about it if it don’t make sense” because I’m going to get upset, and I really get upset. Like, it has to make sense, it can’t be trivial. It can’t be trivial in anything. As long as it ain’t stupid, we can have a good time. Stupid shit makes me want to eat a motherfucker’s food, and that kind of shit: calling my private phone because you got it from a bitch, when really this is probably fueled by your bitch talking my name, or you finding my number on a bitches phone…if it’s fueled by that, say that! Like “Nigga don’t be calling my bitch!” Nigga, I don’t call your bitch, she called me! I ain’t got time to call no bitch! Then that would be over! Check your bitch, homie! Mitch Bade check your bitch! That ain’t about me! When we’re out here on the road these bitches don’t be telling us they have boyfriends and shit. That’s why them niggas be blowing outside: “Bah bah bah bah! Bah bah bah bah!” And we gotta go tell them bitches “Get up off the bus! Your boyfriend’s out here. We ain’t about to have no shit!” Shit happens like that all the time! It’s fueled by women–everything is fueled by a woman. So that’s why we’re real careful with women. The way we deal, on my bus and on this tour, we’re real careful with women because that can be the reason that somebody gets hurt. So for them to leave threatening messages on my shit but don’t leave a number so I can call back–communication is the key to everything. They can still come talk to me, but if they’re stupid…then we’re going to fight! And it’s not going to be good!

I don’t want to fight nobody! I don’t want to have no friction with nobody but you will not disrespect me as a man. When you disrespect me as a man…I gotta show you. I don’t want to…but I will, and that’s what that verse is talking about.

What do you think of the 2Pac line in “Blasphemy” where he was like “Money over bitches because they breed envy!” Do you encounter that a lot?

Hell yeah! That’s one of the realest lines ever! They’re always looking at a bitches shoes: “Oh look what she’s got on!” “Oh my God, she thinks she’s got something because she’s got a Coach purse…bitch I got me a Louis.” “Btich, I got me a Valentino, that’s better than a Louis!” “Nah that ain’t better than a Louis!”

I hear shit all the time. It’s just something that some women have and you’ve just got to be careful because–my best friend Brian Dennis is gone, because of the love for a woman. A fucking crime of passion. The guy killed him, bounced out the club, killed her, and killed himself. Killed his little girl, Alyssa. I wrote about it in the last verse to “The Martini”. Crimes of passion, like, women breed envy. Tupac was a fucking genius. We listen and we learn and we go through life and we realize that you have to be super-careful with these women…because I done been in some psycho shit man. I’m thinking all this stuff is fueled by a woman because no one can truly say that I did anything truly wrong to them unless it’s a woman saying that I cheated. That’s the only thing anybody can ever say about me as far as someone putting harm on someone with a gun…nope, nobody can say it. Putting the word down to kill somebody, coming from my mouth, sending something evil to somebody…nope, never. So when they put me in that bucket, that fucks me up.

Have you listened to “Kill or Be Killed”?

What did you think of the verse? Why is Tech still getting blame for Mac Dre’s death? Leave your thoughts below.